SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [244]
The image to the left in Figure 18.8 is the old setting with the draft-quality view, and the image to the right is the new setting with the high-quality view.
11. In the Component Line Font dialog box, set the Line Weight setting back to Default for the Bracket part, but keep it on the Bracket layer.
12. In the isometric view, Ctrl+click all the tangent edges on the Bracket part, as shown in Figure 18.10. Click the Hide/Show Edges toolbar button on the Line Format toolbar.
Figure 18.10
Hiding edges
13. Click the Hide/Show Edges toolbar button. The PropertyManager message changes to indicate that you can now select hidden edges, and the hidden edges are shown. Ctrl+select the hidden edges and right-click when you are done.
Summary
While SolidWorks is not primarily built around the strength of its 2D drawing functionality, it offers more capabilities than most users take advantage of. Layers, colors, and line styles can make your drawings clearer and easier to read.
Part IV: Using Advanced Techniques
In This Part
Chapter 19
Modeling Multi-Bodies
Chapter 20
Working with Surfaces
Chapter 19: Modeling Multi-Bodies
In This Chapter
Creating models responsibly
Leveraging multi-body techniques
Learning how to use multi-bodies
Understanding how to manage bodies
Working with multi-body data
Working with multi-bodies tutorial
SolidWorks allows multiple solid bodies within a single part at the same time. There are many uses for this type of functionality, but it can also sometimes cause problems that you need to be aware of. This chapter aims to help you take advantage of the benefits of multiple bodies while avoiding some of the potential traps.
You could work with SolidWorks in such a way that you would never need to use multiple bodies inside a single part, ever. Almost everything that average users normally do can be done with a single solid body and without any knowledge of multi-body functionality whatsoever.
However, to access some more powerful functionality, and options that offer more flexibility, multi-body modeling is necessary. In fact, if you want to move on to surface modeling, multi-body knowledge is mandatory because in surface modeling, multi-body is the default.
Multi-body modeling is the gateway from basic solid modeling mainly described in the book up until now into the more advanced functionality that follows. The gateway can lead in two directions: it can lead to more power, more flexibility, more options, more advanced functionality, or it can lead to sloppy, bad habits that could get you or those who work with your data into some modeling hot water down the road. This chapter will help you tell the difference and avoid the pitfalls.
Using Powerful Tools Effectively
The SolidWorks software is so filled with powerful functionality that you will find many ways to create any given piece of geometry. In SolidWorks, the geometry itself is not the only measure of success. What is also important is how you arrived at that geometry. Multi-body modeling is one area that is prone to misuse. This is not because some SolidWorks style police pass judgment on your technique, like a panel of judges rating an Olympic diver, but rather because your models will be passed on to other people who will need to understand how you got your results, and because your model has to be able to react predictably to changes. This is how multi-body modeling became such a hot topic for best-practice issues.
It is not always easy to remember how you executed a particular model six months and 100 models ago. Other users may have to edit your work, and if errors appear (and they will appear), then you have to be able to navigate the design intent without destroying the relationships in the FeatureManager or completely rebuilding it. This is the reason for trying